Whatcom Transportation Authority

Demand Response at Whatcom Transportation Authority

Whatcom Transportation Authority carried 197,257 demand response boardings in FY2025 at $81.78 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Demand Response Bellingham, WA
FY2025 boardings
197.3K
+4.9% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$81.78
-5% nationwide $52.35
Subsidy per ride
$81.36
-5% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
0.5%
+2.5% nationwide 6.7%
Passenger miles
1.16M
average trip 5.87 miles
Operating cost
$16.1M
Vehicles in service
35
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
3.05
64.7K hours operated

Ridership

Monthly data through August 2026.

This year against the last five

Same months on one axis, so seasonality does not read as a trend

Annual boardings

Ten-year series

Cost

This service against every demand response operator in the country.

Cost per ride

This agency against the national figure for the same mode

Fare recovery

Share of operating cost covered by fares

Directly operated and purchased service, FY2025

NTD reports these separately. An agency that contracts a service out reports the contract price, which bundles costs a directly operating agency reports line by line.

Service Boardings Passenger miles Revenue hours Operating cost Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery Vehicles
Purchased transportation - taxi — — — — — — — —
Directly operated 197,257 1,157,433 64,654 $16,132,341 $81.78 $81.36 0.5% 35

Safety and reliability

For this service alone.

Events by year

Complete calendar years only

Miles between failures

Revenue miles divided by mechanical failures. Higher is better.

Full series

Every year Whatcom Transportation Authority reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 197,257 1,157,433 920,252 64,654 $16,132,341 $83,296 $81.78 $81.36 0.5%
2024 188,042 1,067,133 911,228 63,198 $16,190,884 $81,530 $86.10 $85.67 0.5%
2023 189,173 999,727 882,744 62,613 $14,656,976 $82,695 $77.48 $77.04 0.6%
2022 168,956 826,807 872,046 69,188 $14,196,605 $76,252 $84.03 $83.57 0.5%
2021 134,308 636,624 717,235 58,883 $11,357,629 $38,926 $84.56 $84.27 0.3%
2020 113,482 548,610 585,218 47,203 $9,563,645 $17,381 $84.27 $84.12 0.2%
2019 218,996 1,168,630 986,844 76,726 $10,481,809 $100,485 $47.86 $47.40 1%
2018 215,708 1,199,160 953,340 73,278 $8,814,247 $96,130 $40.86 $40.42 1.1%
2017 222,441 1,285,045 926,251 70,808 $8,237,022 $91,196 $37.03 $36.62 1.1%
2016 214,566 1,303,016 885,700 65,615 $7,677,991 $79,852 $35.78 $35.41 1%
2015 204,475 1,237,519 864,368 62,834 $7,300,416 $80,420 $35.70 $35.31 1.1%